Blanche I of Navarre

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For other persons of this name see Blanca of Navarre (disambiguation).
Coat of arms of Blanche I
Coat of arms of Blanche I

Blanche I of Navarre (6 July 1387[1]Santa María la Real de Nieva, Kingdom of Castile (now Spain), April 1, 1441) was Queen of Navarre from 1425 to 1441.

Contents

[edit] Life

She was the daughter of King Charles III of Navarre and Eleanor, Infanta of Castile (died 1416).

Blanche married firstly Martin the Younger, King of Sicily and Crown Prince of Aragon. They were married by proxy on May 21, 1402 in Catania. Blanche travelled to meet her new husband and they were married in person on December 26, 1402. The bride was about eleven years old and the groom twenty-eight.

Martin had survived his previous wife and former co-ruler Mary of Sicily and their only son. He was in need of legitimate heirs. However Martin and Blanche only had one son:

They both survived their only son. Martin died on July 25, 1409 and was succeeded by his own father, Martin I of Aragon.

Blanche remained a widow for a decade. On November 6, 1419, Blance married her second husband John (Juan), duke of Peñafiel by proxy in Olite. John was the second son of Ferdinand I of Aragon and Eleanor of Alburquerque. Ferdinand had succeeded his maternal uncle Martin I in 1412.

Juan traveled to meet her. On June 10, 1420, they were married in person in Pamplona. Charles III died on September 8, 1425 and Blanche succeeded him as Queen regnant of Navarre. John became King Consort of Navarre in her right. They had four children:

After the death of Blanche, he kept the government of Navarre in his own hands, from the hands of their own son Charles of Viana, the rightful heir of the line of Navarrese kings.

John became King of Aragon and King of Sicily, upon the death of his elder brother Alfonso V of Aragon in 1458.

[edit] Ancestors

Blanche's ancestors in three generations
Blanche I of Navarre Father:
Charles III of Navarre
Paternal Grandfather:
Charles II of Navarre
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Philip III of Navarre
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Joan II of Navarre
Paternal Grandmother:
Jeanne de Valois, Queen of Navarre
Paternal Great-grandfather:
John II of France
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Bonne of Bohemia
Mother:
Eleanor of Castile
Maternal Grandfather:
Henry II of Castile
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Alfonso XI of Castile
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Eleanor of Guzman
Maternal Grandmother:
Juana Manuel of Castile
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Juan Manuel, Duke of Peñafiel
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Blanca de La Cerda y Lara

[edit] Bibliography

  • Anthony, Raoul: Identification et Etude des Ossements des Rois de Navarre inhumés dans la Cathédrale de Lescar, Paris, Masson, 1931
  • Maria Rita Lo Forte Scirpo: C'era una volta una regina ... : due donne per un regno: Maria d'Aragona e Bianca di Navarra, Napoli : Liguori, [ISBN: 882073527X], 2003

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anthony (1931) states that she was the fourth-born daughter of King Charles III of Navarre by Queen Eleanor, and she was preceded by Juana, Maria and Margarita and the two latter died early. Anthony defines Blanca's exact birth date as 6 July 1387 by virtue of contemporary sources.


[edit] External links

Preceded by
Antonia of Balzo
Queen consort of Sicily
26 December 1402 - 25 July 1409
Succeeded by
Margarita of Aragon-Prades
Preceded by
Charles III
Queen regnant of Navarre
with John II

8 September 14253 April 1441
Succeeded by
Charles IV